Japanese Business Systems

Course content

Many observers of Japan´s…economic growth attribute a heavy portion of this success to the nature of Japanese business organization. The differences between the model Japanese firm and the model American firm are indeed striking, as are some other distinctive features of Japanese business organization, and these could be important to economic success. However, there are some similarities in Japanese business behavior to that in other countries which should not be overlooked. Also, it must be emphasized that Japanese corporations are not uniquely successful at all times in all of their activities: Japanese firms to make mistakes and fail, and life in Japanese firms is not always smooth. It is important to see how corporate organizational patterns are different in Japan, and how these could have effects on firm behavior. But we should avoid the current tendency to overromanticize Japanese life while looking at the Japanese phenomena with a balanced eye.